‘Thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of now-abolished sexual offences have been posthumously pardoned.
Dubbed the “Alan Turing law”, it will in effect act as an apology to those convicted for consensual same-sex relationships before homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967.’

“The government has said it will support Lord Sharkey’s bill aimed at giving a posthumous statutory pardon to Alan Turing for an offence under section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. I need say nothing about Turing’s achievements and greatness, which are beyond dispute. He was treated with disgraceful cruelty and ingratitude by this country, and in particular by its law and criminal justice system, when he was convicted and sentenced for that offence, after which he took his own life. But I’m opposed to this bill and this pardon.”

“Two decisions by Jack Straw last week, two men kept in prison. Ronnie Biggs and Michael Shields were not linked, nor did the cases raise similar issues, but the timing made it only too easy to portray Straw as hard-hearted and cynical, his decisions based on political grounds and/or the desire to court the public.”

“A decision whether to pardon the jailed Liverpool football fan Michael Shields is days away, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed. The decision could set a precedent for cases of Britons convicted abroad on contested evidence.”

“The case of one of the most notorious murderers in British history, Hawley Crippen, is to be referred to the Court of Appeal, where the infamous doctor may secure a posthumous pardon 99 years after he was hanged.”